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Scott Carmichael

- http://www.gadling.com

Scott spends most of his time playing with the latest and greatest travel gadgets. No trip is complete without at least 10 pounds of gadgets and 3 mobile phones. Got a great gadget you'd like to share with the Gadling readers? Send an email to scott AT gadling.com.

Zagat Survey rates cruise lines - picks Cunard as "top overall"

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 21st, 2009 at 2:00PM

After years of reviewing hotels, nightlife, bars and restaurants, the Zagat Survey has started publishing results of its first cruise line survey.

To generate reliable results, the Zagat.com survey asked cruise passengers for their opinion of cabins, service, facilities, activities and of course dining. The results were split into three categories - large ships, mid size ships and small ships (under 200 passengers). In total, over 22,700 cruise trips were used to reach a conclusion.

The winner of the "best overall" category was Cunard Line. Given the rich tradition of top class service on the Cunard ships, it should come as no surprise that they took the top spot. In the individual categories, Cunard won in the dining and facilities categories, and took the second spot in activities, right behind Disney.

Cunard Line has been crossing the Atlantic since 1840 and currently operates two ships - the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria. In October of next year, the brand new Queen Elizabeth will join the fleet.

More on the results of the Zagat cruise line survey can be found here, and a PDF with the complete results is here.

Man arrested at LAX with a chest full of lizards

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 21st, 2009 at 12:30PM

Customs officials at Los Angeles airport caught a 40 year old passenger trying to sneak past them with undeclared lizards.

Most smugglers hide their loot in their luggage, but this guy had strapped eleven skinks, two geckos and two monitor lizards to his chest. They had been smuggled from Australia, and he obviously did not have an import permit for them.

Surprisingly, this is the second time in a month that a passenger tried to pull this stunt. Back in October, we wrote about a Norwegian passenger who strapped pythons and geckos to himself.

The man has been released on a $10,000 bond, and is expected to be face the court next month. There is apparently a big market for these animals, and since many of them are strictly regulated, people are willing to pay top Dollar to add them to their collection. The lizards caught in LA were worth just under $600 each.

Gallery: Ten more dumb tourists

Daily gear deals - $189 Amazon Kindle, free laptop bag and more

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 21st, 2009 at 10:30AM

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Saturday November 21st 2009. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is for another nice price drop on the Amazon Kindle 2. This is for a refurbished version, but it comes with a full warranty and most users report them arriving looking brand new. It is on sale for just $189.99, which is $70 cheaper than the new version. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a laptop bag/sleeve for just one penny. You'll need to pay $5.89 for shipping, but that still means you get yourself a basic laptop bag for under $6. Click here for this deal.

If you are working on stocking stuffers, then check out the free keychain tire pressure gauge over at Daily Steals. It even features dual LED lights. Like most of these freebies, you'll need to pay $5.99 shipping on each order, which means you can't just order 4 and pay shipping once. Click here for this deal.

And finally in today's lineup, if you'd like something cool to display all your travel photos, then a digital photo frame is a great choice. And a $30 digital photo frame is an even better option. This Memorex 7" frame costs just $29.95 and ships for free. Click here for this deal.

Low flying Ryanair jet blows roof tiles off roof - puts 82 year old in hospital

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 21st, 2009 at 10:00AM

For once, Ryanair is in the news because of something unrelated to oddball fees or something silly their CEO said.

Residents of the German village of Groß Grönau have pulled together to sue for Irish airline because they put an 82 year old woman in the hospital.

Apparently, a Ryanair jet flew so low over her house, that it actually blew roofing tiles off the roof, putting the poor woman into a shock. One villager told the local paper that she actually had to duck when the plane came in for its landing at the local Lübeck-Blankensee airport.

A group of 500 anti-noise-pollution protesters accused the airline of negligent bodily harm and willful property damage. Of course, as is often the case with airlines, Ryanair is rejecting any responsibility for the incident.

Refusal to tip for lousy restaurant service results in arrest

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 4:00PM

Tipping is a really complicated issue in the US. What was once introduced as a way to reward good service, has now turned into a way for patrons to actually pay the salary of restaurant workers. One of my biggest pet peeves with tipping is the mandatory tip on groups. This used to be added to groups of 12 or more, then it dropped to 8 or more, and nowadays most places consider a group of 6 people to be large enough to warrant a mandatory 18% tip - no matter how lousy the service.

Leslie Pope and John Wagner encountered this stupid rule at the Lehigh pub in Bethlemen, PA. Their group was served by a pretty useless waitress who made them wait over an hour for their order, forced them to refill their own drinks and even navigate the restaurant to get their own napkins and silverware.

When it came time to pay, they were presented with a $73 check, plus a $16 tip. When they refused to pay the tip, the pub called the police and had them arrested. They were actually handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

Where to go for fast food - the flowchart edition

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 3:30PM

American food blog "eating the road" has come up with one of the best uses for a flowchart I have ever seen. By answering some simple questions, you'll be told where to go for your daily dose of crappy fast food. The chart points west coasters to the stores the rest of the country dreams of getting, and sends all Canadians to Tim Hortons.

The chart covers 16 of the most popular US fast food chains, and even takes your sobriety into account (only drunk people will survive sliders).

Click here for the full version of the chart

Cruise ship technology - staying in touch with the mainland

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 1:30PM

There is no denying that we live in a connected world - and cruise ships are no exception. What used to be an opportunity to get away from everything and just sit back and relax, has changed into yet another place where you can keep up with the latest in your Facebook account or Twitter page.

This past weekend, I took a 3 day trip on the Carnival Dream, and spent a little time going over its various technologies designed to keep you connected with the mainland.

Six ways to keep a long distance relationship alive

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 1:00PM

So, you met the love of your life when you were on the road? He or she is the one, and you are already thinking about the color you'll be painting the baby room? This is obviously pretty damn awesome if you can just drive to see him or her, but what do you do if you met when your homes are thousands of miles apart?

Here are six ways you can keep the fire burning, and get a chance at making a long distance relationship survive.

Daily gear deals - $7 webcam, $25 noise canceling headphones and more

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 12:00PM

Here are the hottest gear deals for today, Friday November 20th 2009. Remember, these deals are often valid for just one day, so act fast before they are gone.

Today's first deal is a real hot one - a Logitech webcam for just $6.99, with free shipping. The specifications are a tad basic,
but you really can't complain at this price. Click here for this deal.

Do you ever wish you had some spare iPod chargers? Now is your chance! Thingfling is selling a six pack of iPod chargers for just $6. They'll add $6 shipping, but that is still just $2 each. Click here for this deal.

Next up is a really great deal on a pair of noise canceling headphones. The Skullcandy SC-NC active noise canceling headphones are on sale for just $24.95, which is about $75 off their normal price. Shipping is also free. Click here for this deal.

Why wait in line on Black Friday for a good GPS deal when you can get a refurbished widescreen TomTom for just $89.99? The 330S features text to speech, the TomTom Easyport mount and online map corrections. Click here for this deal.

Four pieces of great inflight WiFi news from Gogo

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Nov 20th, 2009 at 9:30AM

Inflight Internet provider Aircell released not one, but four different pieces of good news yesterday afternoon. We've translated all the PR-speak into the stuff you need to know if you want to stay up to date on the latest developments of Internet in the skies.

American Airlines widget

American Airlines is taking its rollout of the Aircell Gogo inflight service pretty serious - taking a page from the early days of WiFi on Virgin America, American Airlines developed a simple WiFi tracking widget.

The tool allows you to check whether your flight will come equipped with the Gogo inflight Internet service. Of course, the target we all want is that these tools won't be necessary, and that every flight you get on will have the service, but until then, lets be grateful for this handy widget.